Three Days In Asheville

On Monday I headed out for Asheville North Carolina. Asheville is about three hours from where I live. I had a meeting with a group of tourism people. We meet three times a year. Each meeting is themed around a particular topic and we also get to visit other tourism attractions.

I have been to Asheville many times throughout the years and I love it. This city has something for everyone.

My meeting didn’t start until noon on Monday so I didn’t have to leave until Monday morning. I made the trip easily traffic was not bad. I was really excited because I would be seeing my tourism buddies that I only get to see a few times a year.

The meeting and our lodging was at the Cambria Downtown Asheville. And it was downtown right in the middle of things. The service there was outstanding. Being in tourism myself it’s always something I am very conscious of. They have customer service down pat. This is a fairly new hotel. There is a restaurant and bar on the 4th floor and the food is amazing. More about that in just a minute.

I was on the 11th floor and the view was breathtaking. The hotel is very modern with all new amenities. The view was great both day and night.

Our meeting started at noon with a light lunch served in the meeting room. We had a brief bit of business and then a speaker who was great!!! He was one of those speakers who keeps you interested and made two hours seem like ten minutes.

We stayed at the hotel for dinner. The hotel has a bar and restaurant on the 4th floor, Hemmingway’s Cuba Rooftop Restaurant and Bar, and the food there was ahhhhhmazing. The rooftop bar was just perfect with a light breeze blowing and another spectacular view of the city. We had drinks there before dinner. For dinner I ordered the frita cubana, seasoned ground beef and pork sliders with onions and shoestring potatoes, and for a side, congri. I was a little taken aback by the color of the congri but it tasted fantastic.

After dinner we went on the Lazoom Party Bus. If you have been to Asheville you may have been on the Lazoom Bus. This is a comedy bus that takes you through different parts of the city. Your guide is hilarious. This particular ride had a haunted theme. We drove all over the city for an hour and our guide pointed out different parts of the city that were supposedly haunted. At several of the stops a ghost would get on the bus and make jokes and interact with the group. It turns out the same person played the role of all the ghosts. He was really talented. http://www.lazoomtours.com

The next day we did the touristy thing and visited several attractions. We started out at The Biltmore Estate. It is beautiful. I have been here so many times I like to pretend it is my second home. It is hard to believe that this used to be a private home to the Vanderbilts. Biltmore currently has a display of period costumes throughout the house. When you visit each room there is a mannequin with the costume from that time period. It was really interesting. http://www.biltmore.com

And of course the gardens were beautiful there were so many different things in bloom.

We also visited the Blue Ridge National Heritage Center where we saw a video about local artisans and then on to the Southern Highland Craft Guild and Folk Art Center where we were able to see some of the handmade items. All of the items on display were for sale. I probably could have stayed there all day. The talent displayed at the Folk Art Center just blows me away. http://www.Southernhighlandguild.org/folk-art-center

That night for dinner we went to the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. You just have to check this one out for yourself http://www.sierranevada.com  There is a brewery where you can do tours, an amazing restaurant and you can even play corn hole there. Again the food and beer was great!!!

On Wednesday we had meetings until noon and then everyone went our separate ways. Our meetings and the events we attend are always super casual. I always get chilly in the meeting rooms. I took a couple of photos of what I wore to the meetings. I usually wear the same thing into the evenings and maybe just add a different jacket or sweater.

This shirt is the one I bought when I was in Orlando at Macy’s on super clearance sale. I think it was $19.99. I love it. It is so comfy. The vest and shoes are from Kohl’s and the pants are from Cato’s.

This shirt is also from Kohl’s and the sweater is from Target. Same shoes and pants I try to pack light when I am traveling and if possible wear my pants or jeans a couple of times. And we do so much walking I have to have comfortable shoes.

But probably the best part of the trip was on my way home. I was able to stop and have lunch with a precious friend of mine. Laura, I don’t get to see her very often. She used to live in my area and through the years we have done a lot of fun things together. She moved to Asheville about three years ago and this was the first time I had seen her since she moved. The thing about a wonderful friend like Laura is that you can not see each other for a long long time but when you do its like no time has passed at all. Now Laura is moving out west and it will probably be a long time before I see her again but I know when we do we will pick up right where we left off.

So all in all a short but fun trip. Catching up with Laura was the best. It was good to get back home to the familiar and my own bed of course. Have a wonderful weekend.

Love your day your way!!!

A Quick Trip to Orlando

Hello hello, how are you?

I had a quick trip to Orlando last week for work. I left on Monday. My flight wasn’t until almost 2:00 pm. This wasn’t by my choice. I usually like a really early flight so that I can get to where I am going and check things out. I couldn’t get an early flight so I was stuck with the 1:50 flight. I had to fly through Atlanta where I had a layover so I didn’t get into Orlando until about 6:30. I discovered having a later flight is not that bad. I didn’t have to rush to get out of the house. I had time for breakfast and an extra cup of coffee, plenty of time to pack, I did a load of laundry and even made a pecan pie before I left. I felt so un rushed. It was great. I may have to rethink my early morning flights.

However that did get me to my hotel kind of late. I gave the driver the address to the hotel and he was not familiar with it. Turns out it was a new hotel. He asked me to put the directions into his phone in Google maps. Always an adventure. I was meeting a group of cavers for our semi annual board meeting for National Caves Association. This is the first time we have had our meeting in Orlando. For many years the winter meeting was held in St. Louis. It was always cold and sometimes travel could be tricky. We are now spoiled by the wonderful warm weather in Orlando. We stayed at the Springhill Suites on Millenia Lakes Blvd. And just across the bridge from the hotel was the Millenia Mall. Although we didn’t have a lot of free time I did manage to make it to the mall where Macy’s was having an awesome clearance sale.

The hotel was very nice and the customer service was outstanding. There was a complimentary breakfast and it was great having that every morning and not having to go out and find breakfast. I hate to say it but it rained most of the time. It was a warm rain so it wasn’t that bad.

On Tuesday night we went to a restaurant called The Capital Grille. One of my favorite things in the world is Sword Fish and of course not a lot of restaurants around me have that. I ordered the sword fish, blackened, and it was amazing.

The sauce around the edge was a mustard vinaigrette and I wasn’t too sure
about it. The waiter assured me it was on the side. But it was great!!! It totally made
the dish.

The Cheesecake Factory was right next door to the Capital Grille and we did have to pass it on the way back to the hotel so we decided to stop in for some cheesecake to go. Can you believe they put the calories on the cheesecake so you know how many calories per slice. WHAT???? If you have decided to eat cheesecake then why oh why must you know the calories? Most of us got a piece of cheesecake to take back to our rooms. I ate some of mine the next day. I did not eat the entire slice. Those slices are huge!!!

Try not to drool. I am having some wonderful flashbacks.

Of course I always have to take knitting along with me. I took a scarf and a hat to work on. I finished both of them and as I am sitting here typing this I happened to think I haven’t seen the scarf since I have been back. I will have to run upstairs and look for it. I hope I didn’t leave it behind.

This is the scarf. I love these colors.

And this is the hat. I took this picture after I returned to work on Friday. Colorful wouldn’t you say?

I had an early flight going home on Thursday and I was back in town by 2:30 pm. Because of Marks crazy work schedule Scruffy had spent a few days while I was gone with my sister-in-law. I went by to pick him up and he was so glad to see me. At least I think he was. My sister-in-law spoils him like crazy when she has him. He always loves to stay with her.

All in all a good trip. I went back to work on Friday with a lot of new ideas. I had to play catch up on some things.

Friday evening me and several of my coworkers went to a beautiful wedding of a sweet young lady who works with us, Christan. The wedding was held in a barn, which is all the rage now, it was a country setting with a huge stone fireplace, very laid back and beautiful. Instead of having a traditional wedding cake they had……Cheesecake!!! You know how I love cheesecake right?

Isn’t she a beautiful bride

It’s always nice to get away but there’s nothing like my lake and mountains. And my Molly of course, look she slipped into the picture just before I took it. Perfect timing Molly.

P.S. I found the scarf. Whew!!!!!!

Love your day your way

Rainy Days and Mondays

Good Monday friends. First of all Happy Veterans Day to all of our Vererans past and present. Thank you for your service.

How have you been? I know I say this every month but how can it possibly be November already? this year has flown by. It is raining this Monday morning, again. We are getting a new deck built onto the house and the materials have been in our yard for about two weeks. Every time the workers try to get started it is raining!!!!

Last weekend, actually it was weekend before last, I drove back to the Amish Farm market and finally bought one of the braided rugs I have been looking at. There are different ones brought in every week and I fell in love with the colors on this one. It is fairly small and I have it in my entryway and I will probably leave it there.

I also drove up to Bald River Falls a beautiful waterfall in the Cherokee National Forest. I knew the colors would be at peak and that it would be a great time to go. I was not disappointed. My sister and my nephew and his wife went with me and we had a great time!!

On the way back through Tellico Plains we stopped at a little antique shop, Stone Cottage, I hadn’t been in this shop for years even though it is a favorite of mine. The owner dries flowers from her garden and makes amazing wreaths and arrangements. I bought this dried arrangement of Nigella, or Love In a Mist it is also called. I love that name. When they are blooming they are a beautiful purplish blue color. These are full of seeds that I can plant now or in the spring. Let me know if you would like some of these pods.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy for me. I had to be gone earlier this week for a couple of days for a Gift Show in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area. This is about seventy miles from me so I always spend the night. I am not actually the buyer for my work but I like to go when I can and check out any possible new merchandise. The drive up to Gatlinburg is beautiful this time of year and I always have to stop and get a few pictures.

We discovered a great restaurant in Sevierville that has only been open for about two months. It is called Five Oaks Farm Kitchen. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and we ate there for breakfast. I highly recommend the Belgian Waffles. Check it out if you get a chance. www.fiveoaksfarmkitchen.com I also got to spend time with some of my caving buddies who were at the show. And in typical “me” fashion I realized when we were getting ready for dinner Monday night I had left my jeans on the bed at home and hadn’t packed them. Soooo at 10:00 that night we had to make a run to Ross Clothing, the only thing open that time of the night in Sevierville, and get me a pair of jeans. I hate shopping for jeans. There is nothing that can make you feel worse about your body than trying on jeans, except maybe trying on bathing suites hmmmm. But I went into Ross with only thirty minutes to spare and gathered six pairs of jeans and took them to the dressing room. Ross is the kind of store you usually have to dig for what you want. It is an overstock type of store so you can find some good deals if you really look. I got a pair of Jones New York jeans and I love them!!!! Go figure it takes me hours normally to pick out a pair of jeans and I run in at 10:00, after having a big meal and a full tummy, and find jeans I love. Go figure.

We stayed in Sevierville where one of the shows was taking place and I got this early morning sunrise pic the morning I left.

Anyway I was gone for a couple of days and then drove straight back to work on Wednesday morning because we were doing a Teacher Appreciation night for our local teachers. It went very well and we are having another one on Wednesday night. We did tours and food and door prizes and our teachers loved it. We are so thankful for them.

We celebrated my husband’s Birthday on Friday so I took an extra day off from work. I was in Gatlinburg on his Birthday and felt bad for it but he also had to work. So we celebrated on Friday. On Saturday I went to visit my mother in law in the assisted living center where she is staying and took her out for a ride. I try to do that every week so that she has an outing to look forward to. I also went to a house-warming party of a co-worker and saw some friends there I hadn’t seen in a while so that was very nice. I finished up the day with my sisters watching the Tennessee game and had pizza and beer. If you know me you know I am not a football fan I actually could care less about it. But being with my sisters is always a good time, and I took a cowl neck scarf I have been working on and actually finished it before the end of the game.

With the traveling and eating out and not having time to work out I have felt a bit sluggish. I try to remind myself that I have to make time to work out and eat better anyway. I can’t use the excuse of special lunches, dinners and being gone. I am doing those things all the time. A day at a time progress I suppose. It’s back to the gym for me today. No more excuses!!!!!

What have you been up to?

Love your day your way!!!

Another Sister Trip In The Books

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Hello Hello, what a great time me and the sisters ( this includes my niece Tammy who is more like a sister to us) had on our annual Sister Trip. There is four of us. I probably laugh more in these two days than I do all year. We have a great time!!!!

For several years we have been going to Gatlinburg although we have gone other places as well. We have always stayed in Baskins Creek Condominiums and loved it. We have probably stayed there ten or fifteen times. Because of schedules we were only able to stay two nights so it was a pretty short trip. Baskins Creek Condominiums has changed their policy for this time of year to a three night minimum. Booo we were not able to stay there. We stayed at Park Place Condominiums. It is located closer to Downtown Gatlinburg so within walking distance of a lot of things on the strip. Park Place had an awesome balcony and that is all of the good I can say about it. We will not stay there again. It is an older property that is in much need of some updates and repairs.

As I said we had a wonderful balcony overlooking the creek and it was so peaceful listening to the water.

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We always stop in Sevierville on the way into Gatlinburg because we like the TJ Maxx there. I found a really cute dress that I love and I think it will look perfect with some black boots.

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This is not the best picture but you get the idea.

After we got checked into the condo we sort of chilled out on the balcony and just hung out talking and laughing

On Thursday we went to the Titanic Museum. If you haven’t been there you should check it out. This is the World’s Largest Museum Attraction. It is located in Pigeon Forge.

Upon arrival each guest is given a boarding pass of an actual passenger that was aboard the Titanic. The guests then follow the passenger’s story as the exhibit proceeds. The tours are self guided and at the end of the tour the guest discovers the fate of the passenger in their ticket. We all survived.

Gatlinburg is really pretty this time of year with lots of fall colors and fall decorations.

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Thursday night we ate at the Peddler Steakhouse in Gatlinburg. This place has a salad bar a mile long. Well maybe not a mile but it seems like it. Check it out if you are ever in the area. www.peddlergatlinburg.com

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The pink pumpkins are for breast cancer awarenes.

Every year on our way home we stop to do a little retail therapy in Sevierville at the Tanger Outlet Mall. I found a cute denim jacket at Dress Barn. I usually can’t find anything I like at Dress Barn but the stitching on the side of the jacket was really different than anything like I have. Did I need another denim jacket? Probably not but I just couldn’t resist this detail.

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And as usual the sisters wore me out.

Another fun trip. I think next year we will stay longer so we can return to Baskins Creek.

I am so ready to be home for awhile. I have been gone three weeks out of the last four weeks. With a work trip and then vacation soon after that, it all happened at the same time. But that is the wonderful thing about life it happens and you have to go with it.

Love your day your way!!!

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